Eye technician vs optical technician

The differences between eye technicians and optical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an optical technician has an average salary of $36,908, which is higher than the $30,664 average annual salary of an eye technician.

The top three skills for an eye technician include patients, schedule appointments and medical history. The most important skills for an optical technician are patients, chrome, and dexterity.

Eye technician vs optical technician overview

	Eye Technician	Optical Technician
Yearly salary	$30,664	$36,908
Hourly rate	$14.74	$17.74
Growth rate	2%	4%
Number of jobs	6,948	29,866
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 31%	Associate Degree, 32%
Average age	41	44
Years of experience	2	-

Eye technician vs optical technician salary

Eye technicians and optical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Eye Technician	Optical Technician
Average salary	$30,664	$36,908
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $46,000	Between $25,000 And $54,000
Highest paying City	-	Hayward, CA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	AMETEK
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between eye technician and optical technician education

There are a few differences between an eye technician and an optical technician in terms of educational background:

	Eye Technician	Optical Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 31%	Associate Degree, 32%
Most common major	Biology	Business
Most common college	-	University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Eye technician vs optical technician demographics

Here are the differences between eye technicians' and optical technicians' demographics:

	Eye Technician	Optical Technician
Average age	41	44
Gender ratio	Male, 16.9% Female, 83.1%	Male, 36.8% Female, 63.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 5.8% White, 62.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.9% Asian, 9.1% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	6%	13%

Differences between eye technician and optical technician duties and responsibilities

Eye technician example responsibilities.

Maintain coating quality using adhesion testing and spectrophotometers, and manage coating hues and reflectance adjustments.
Collect co pay, enter in EHR, balance and close out dates.
Reconcile cash drawer and daily close reports to EHR at the end of the day.
Obtain patient's chief complaint as well as present and past illness, medications, and allergies.
Experience in assisting retina procedures, ordering supplies and medications.
Coordinate departmental activities while maintaining excellent relationships with all other departments, vendors, patients and professionals.

Optical technician example responsibilities.

Manage high-end optical for private optometry office.
Manage payroll to correspond with allot labor allowance.
Maintain coating quality using adhesion testing and spectrophotometers, and manage coating hues and reflectance adjustments.
Develop and dispense RX eyewear.
Train associates to acquire and retain ABO certificate.
Generate (cut) prescription RX into lens blanks.

Eye technician vs optical technician skills

Common eye technician skills

Patients, 39%
Schedule Appointments, 5%
Medical History, 5%
Eye Exams, 4%
FDA, 4%
Exam Rooms, 3%

Common optical technician skills

Patients, 86%
Chrome, 9%
Dexterity, 1%
CNC, 0%
Math, 0%
Optical Components, 0%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Eye Technician
Eye Technician vs Optical Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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